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span class="inline inline-left">Mud man: A protestor emerges from the mudflow site in Sidoarjo, East Java, on Tuesday. Demonstrators at the site demanded a prompt solution to the six-year-old disaster that has displaced thousands of residents.JP/Indra HarsaputraTo mark the sixth anniversary of East Java’s mudflow disaster, activists rallied outside properties owned by Aburizal “Ical” Bakrie on Tuesday, demonstrating against the man that they allege should be held responsible for the catastrophe.

Protestors unfurled banners and chanted slogans during a demonstration outside the Epicentrum Walk and Wisma Bakrie in Kuningan, South Jakarta.

“We bring a coffin, which symbolizes the death of victims rights, because of the disaster. We have also brought some mud to represent the Lapindo mud,” Andrie S. Wijaya of the Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam) told The Jakarta Post.

Activists from other organizations were also on hand, including those from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra), the People’s Coalition for Fisheries Justice (Kiara), the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) and the People’s Struggle Front (FPR).

On the same day, Airlangga University economic expert Tjuk Sukiadi filed a judicial review request with the Constitutional Court, seeking to overturn the government’s claim that the mudflow was a natural disaster.

The mudflow was first spotted on May 29, 2006, following mining activities conducted by PT Lapindo Brantas, a company controlled by Bakrie.

In 2009, the East Java Police terminated its investigation (SP3) into the mining company, claiming that no evidence of criminal activity was found.

Tjuk alleged that the central government pressured both the East Java Police and the East Java Prosecutor’s Office in the Lapindo case.

He said that he also objected to the use of state money to pay for mudflow mitigation efforts.

Meanwhile, the government has refused to take the blame for Lapindo’s slowness in paying compensation to the victims in Sidoarjo.

“I have kept pushing Lapindo to pay the compensation as soon as possible. That’s all I can do,” Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto told reporters at the Presidential Office on Tuesday. (tas)